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Mote - A Fading World

With the success of the Labyrinth campaign, and with a little revision of the AIMhack system, I decided to whip up a world for future AIMhack games to call their own. That world is Mote, and it has been the site of many fully-fledged campaigns, by myself and by other DMs. This world is not explicitly based on anything, though it partially owes its tone to Jack Vance's Tales of the Dying Earth stories. Without further ado, the intro:

In a dark corner of the sky lies a world so old that its own people have forgotten its name. This faded planet has been worn and scarred by countless battles, ancient magic, and the simple grind of the aeons. Yet, life continues.

The scholars of the world have re-christened it Mote, puzzled by its diminutive size. Most of these scholars have long since passed, as darkness begins to swallow the world.

Mote's surface is a vast open ocean, pockmarked by rugged islands. The last empire to span the islands, and thus the world, crumbled centuries ago. Since then, lesser lords have stepped up to try and fill the void, but something always brings their efforts to naught. Only the smallest and most rugged states seem to survive for more than a century.

Cities of course persist. It's easy to raise a single city and defend it against the encroaching darkness, but that's about the extent of civilization in this age. Travelers can always find a safe haven, should they survive the wilderness.

The heroes of old are gone. Greatness is harder to come by as the dangers of the wild grow fiercer. Most are content to live out their lives in their quiet corners of the islands, hoping that darkness will pass them over. Others believe that the world will end soon, and spend their days in wild debauchery, celebrating the decadence of aeons past.

Of course, stories still survive the ravages of time, and you have had your glimpses of the greatness of old. You've heard the cautionary tales, and have witnessed the self-styled heroes of your day, as well as their downfall.